Hurricane Simon forecast to get much stronger as it heads to Mexico’s Pacific coast
Hurricane Simon was headed toward part of Mexico’s Pacific coast Friday and was forecast to get much stronger.
US forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of the central and southwest coast, where hurricane-force winds were expected within 36 hours.
Simon had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph early Friday and was moving northwest at 5 mph, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The Category 1 hurricane was forecast to turn to the north by early Saturday and approach the coast.
Simon was expected to intensify rapidly and become a Category 4 storm before landfall.
Category 4 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale have maximum sustained winds of 130-156 mph.
Simon was centered about 220 miles south of Manzanillo and 325 miles south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes.
Tropical storm conditions were possible along the coast later Friday.
Simon was expected to produce torrential rainfall that could cause flooding and mudslides.
US forecasters said 8 to 15 inches of rain could fall in southwestern Mexico, with isolated areas getting up to 25 inches.
